1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to artificial reefs. Additionally, the present invention relates to processes for forming such artificial reefs. More particularly, the present invention relates to processes for forming artificial reefs in which a sprayable concrete is used for the formation of the artificial reef. Additionally, the present invention relates to the use of cinder blocks in conjunction with artificial reefs.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
An artificial reef is a man-made structure typically built to promote marine life in areas having generally featureless bottoms. Artificial reefs are used to control erosion and/or to improve surfing. Many reefs are built by using objects that were built for other purposes, for example, by sinking oil platform jackets, scuttling ships, or by deploying rubble or construction debris.
Scuttling ships is an extremely costly and time-consuming way to produce an artificial reef since there are many logistical hurdles to be overcome due to stringent governmental regulations. The ships must be stripped clean of any and all potential pollutants. As a result, the engines and fuel tanks must be removed. PCBs are common substance in many older ship designs. These PCBs must be removed before the ship is scuttled. There also minimum depth requirements set forth by the USCG which makes the structures undesirable for deployment in waters less than 150 feet.
The Rigs-to-Reefs program has been very successful as a result of state fishery agencies working closely with oil companies to help defray the cost of deploying these offshore large structures. This can be attractive to oil companies since many times the cost of deploying is less than the cost of bringing the rigs back inshore and sold for scrap. This type of reef has minimum depth requirements, stringent regulations regarding the removal of contaminants, and is very costly to deploy.
Designed artificial reefs can be placed in shallower waters and are meant to provide the underlayment for the development of what eventually will considered a “natural” reef by incorporating elements conducive to making this happen. Artificial reefs divert the current flow in order to provide adequate cover and refuge so as to allow small marine creatures to gain a foothold instead of being continually swept along with the ocean currents. These artificial reefs are placed above the flat, featureless ocean floor. Artificial reefs are designed to stand alone or be deployed in unison with a number of other reefs and/or placement of low relief material, such as rubble or concrete culverts. Concrete is a good material used for artificial reef construction, but it has inherent issues since it lacks correct pH values in addition to being too hard for benthic marine organisms to bore into. As such, it is very important to provide natural soft limestone as a primary surface materials.
Artificial reefs are somewhat expensive to be produced. Typically, a metal infrastructure is required for the artificial reef. Typically, a metal infrastructure is installed within a mold and concrete is poured around the metal infrastructure. Unfortunately, this metal infrastructure can degrade over time because of contact with salt water. As a result, the artificial reef can degrade over time. Typically, the construction of such artificial reefs requires a number of persons to complete. The curing time for the concrete can be several days. As such, production of such artificial reefs is very expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Still further, where metal infrastructure is utilized in the artificial reef, welding is required. This welding will degrade because of contact with the saltwater. Additionally, the cost of steel associated with such a metal infrastructure makes the artificial reefs very expensive.
In certain circumstances, solid triangular blocks of concrete are utilized as artificial reefs. Typically, these solid blocks can cause proper interruption of the ocean current, but lack an area on the interior thereof whereby small marine animals can develop. In those artificial reefs that have an internal chamber, turtles can become trapped. As such, such structures lack proper turtle escape hatches whereby turtles can escape from the interior of such artificial reefs. Still further, the bottoms of such artificial reefs can be relatively small. As such, they can sink into the ocean floor or become swept away with strong ocean currents. As such, a need has developed so as to provide an artificial reef which overcomes the problems associated with the prior art.
In the past, a variety of patents have issued with respect to such artificial reefs. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,069,715, issued on Feb. 2, 1937 to J. P. Arpin, is an early patent dealing with artificial reefs. This structuring includes an elongated U-shaped member that is substantially triangular in cross-section and hollow. The outer longitudinal edges at the base portion have inclined soil-penetrating toes. The portion of the base intermediate the longitudinal edges are provided with penetrating lugs.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,209, issued on Jun. 10, 1974 to E. R. Boots, describes a method and apparatus for preventing erosion of a beach. This method and apparatus includes an artificial reef for subsurface placement adjacent a shoreline. The artificial reef is made of a base reef set on the seabed and an upper reef preformed and mounted to the base reef.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,311, issued on Mar. 5, 1991 to T. A. Van Doren, describes an artificial reef that employs a dome-shaped, thin-walled enclosure of plastic material having apertures therein to permit aquatic life to enter and exit. The enclosure has a circular perimeter that is provided with a circumferential trough integrally formed with the enclosure. A concrete ballast is poured into the trough to form a perimetrical weight which holds the reef in position on the desired underwater surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,173,006, issued on Dec. 22, 1992 to W. R. Lowe, provides an artificial reef structure in the form of a truncated pyramid structure. This artificial reef is assembled on site. The artificial reef structure is comprised of identical panels forming openings at the top and bottom of the artificial reef and forming an opening in the side of the artificial reef at a variable distance from the bottom of the structure so as to control the sinking of the structure and the sand held by the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,695, issued on Nov. 9, 1993 to B. J. Mostkoff, provides an artificial reef having an equilateral tetrahedron and having four equilateral sides in which an equilateral triangle is disposed. Tire chips are placed within the artificial reef and held in place by cement. The artificial reef is formed with an open-ended three-sided mold.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,665, issued on Oct. 3, 1995 to R. K. Hughes, shows an artificial reef for use in a body of water. The reef is formed by providing an anchoring structure which is submerged. The anchoring structure has a weight sufficient to anchor the artificial reef to the floor of the body of water. Each of the reef assemblies is formed from a base which is secured to the anchoring structure. A flexible elastomeric sleeve is coupled to a lower end of a buoyant elongated member formed from a substantially rigid polymeric material so that the elongated members are held in a generally upright position.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,429, issued on Oct. 15, 2002 to M. D. Moore, provides an artificial reef module for coral reef remediation. The artificial reef includes a central body having an upper settling plate, a middle settling plate, and a lower settling plate. A plurality of primary tines extend from the central body and include a plurality of secondary tines extending therefrom. The primary tines include the supporting tines, the stabilizing tines, and the space-filling tines. The branching of these tines closely replicates the appearance of natural branching coral.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,896,445, issued on May 24, 2005 to E. Engler, discloses a modular artificial reef that can be placed in stacked structures along the floor of a body of water. The artificial reef includes a top wall, a bottom wall and opposed sidewalls and end walls which are interconnected to form a hollow interior. Each of the walls is formed with one or more openings having a size suitable to allow access by marine life and to permit the passage of sunlight therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,828,493, issued on Nov. 9, 2010 to C. Brignac, describes an artificial reef structure that utilizes an axle rod supporting a plurality of buoyant reef bodies rotatably mounted on the axle rod. The axle rod and buoyant sections are suspended at a desired level above a water bottom by anchors attached to the anchor lines. A plurality of distally projecting rods is mounted on the buoyant reef bodies.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,702, shows another type of artificial reef. The artificial reef is created by pouring concrete into a mold comprised of an inner form and an outer formed with multiple black out creating triangular windows. This artificial reef is deployed alone or with a smaller scale reef inside for fitted with shelves. This is a relatively complex design which is difficult to deploy correctly and easily. The configuration has a smooth surface that is not conducive to attracting marine growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,513,711, describes another type of artificial reef. This artificial reef employs the use of soft limestone rock on surface panels. The construction method utilized is a costly and time-consuming method that requires casting six structural elements separately and casting three panels separately. Once all of the components are cured sufficiently over a period of days, they can be lifted and placed together so as to be cast together as a single unit.
The present Applicant is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287, issued on Aug. 2, 2016. This patent describes a process for forming an artificial reef which includes the steps of forming a form having a geometric shape, applying at least one blockout onto a surface of the form such that the blockout extends outwardly of the surface of the form, applying the sprayable concrete over the form and the blockout, curing the sprayable concrete on the form for a period of time, removing the blockout from the surface of the form and from the cured sprayable concrete, and removing the form from the cured sprayable concrete. A base is formed having an upper surface. The lower end of the form is positioned upon the base. A sprayable concrete is sprayed over the upper surface of the base.
During the process of manufacturing the artificial reefs in accordance with the process of U.S. Pat. No. 9,403,287, the present Applicant has discovered that the use of the polymeric blockouts could create difficulties during the manufacturing process. In particular, these blockouts tended to adhere to the sprayable concrete material. As such, additional efforts would were required in order to separate the blockouts from the cured sprayable concrete. Under certain circumstances, the efforts to remove these blockouts often damaged the integrity of the blockouts. As such, the process often required a large number of replacement blockouts for the continued manufacture of the artificial reef.
Additionally, and furthermore, it was found that the use of the blockouts actually reduced the amount of available material on the artificial reef. In other words, that area which was defined by the blockout in the sprayable concrete did not provide a surface for the underwater species to thrive. As such, it was felt that the addition of outwardly extending and relatively irregular surfaces on the exterior of the reef enhanced the ability of the subsea organisms to thrive. Additionally, and furthermore, it was found that the blockouts actually added a significant cost to the artificial reef. In particular, the cost was enhanced when the blockouts needed to be continually repaired and/or replaced. As such, a need developed so as to provide an artificial reef which minimize the cost of the blockout while providing additional surfaces upon which the subsea organisms could thrive.
It is a object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and process for forming such an artificial reef which minimizes the time and labor requirements for the formation of the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef that avoids any welding operations.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which minimizes the amount of steel and avoids the cost of such steel.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which includes limestone surfaces suitable for allowing marine organisms and microorganisms to hold onto.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which creates a large footprint in order to avoid sinking into the floor of the body of water or being swept away by ocean currents.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef in which the artificial reef is attractive to marine life.
It is still further object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef which provides greater longevity to the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef in which the artificial reef is stronger than prior artificial reef structures.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for the forming of the artificial reef which creates an artificial reef which allows water circulation therethrough and for small animals to enter into the interior of the artificial reef.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which provides outwardly extending surfaces for which subsea organisms can thrive.
It is still a further object of the present invention provide an artificial reef and a process for forming the artificial reef which minimizes the cost of the artificial reef structure.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.